Method for the Continuous Production of Synthesis Gas from Oil Sand and/or Oil Shale

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for the continuous obtention of synthesis gas by the direct gasification of carbon fractions contained in oil sands and/or oil shales in a vertical process chamber ( 2 ) having a calcination zone and an oxidation zone ( 6 ), in which the calcinated, fractions rich in carbon oxidize with oxygen-containing gas. The gaseous reaction products are withdrawn at the top of the vertical processing chamber ( 2 ) that has the shape of a vertical shaft furnace which is continuously flown through from the top to the bottom by a bulk material which itself is not oxidized. Oxygen-containing gas ( 10 ) is at least partially introduced beneath the oxidation zone, whereby the rising gas flow is facilitated. The bulk material is at least partially provided by the natural inert rock content in the oil sands and/or the oil shales. Added alkaline substances convert under reductive conditions the gaseous sulfur compounds, which were obtained at temperatures above 400° C. from the constituents of the oil sands and/or the oil shales, by chemical reaction into solid sulfur compounds which are at least partially discharged with the gaseous reaction products and are removed from the gas phase at temperatures above 300° C. by fine material separation ( 18 ).

The invention relates to a method for continuous production of synthesisgas by direct gasification of carbon components, contained in oil sandsand/or oil shales, in a vertical process chamber with a calcining zoneand an oxidation zone, in which zone the calcined carbon-rich componentsoxidize with oxygen-containing gas, and the gaseous reaction productsare drawn off at the top of the vertical process chamber, and thevertical process chamber is embodied in the form of a vertical shaftfurnace, through which a bulk material, which itself is not oxidized,flows continuously from top to bottom, and the oxygen-containing gas isintroduced at least partially below the oxidation zone, in that the bulkmaterial, furnished at least partially by the natural inert rockcomponent of the oil sands and/or oil shale, which is converted in thevertical process chamber by chemical reaction with the alkalinesubstances at temperatures of over 400° C. into solid sulfur compoundsby adding alkaline substances under reductive conditions; these solidsulfur compounds are partially carried away with the gaseous reactionproducts; and at temperatures above 300° C. they are removed from thegas phase by fine-material separation.

Because of the strong worldwide demand for fossil fuels andpetroleum-based raw materials, as well as the expected long-termscarcity of conventional petroleum, the recovery of energy carriers andraw materials from oil shale and/or oil sand resources is becomingincreasingly important.

Naturally occurring oil sands or oil shale comprise natural rock andcontain up to 20% of a bitumen mixture. This bitumen mixture essentiallycontains organic carbon compounds with different molecular weights andboiling points.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To make these carbon compounds accessible to purposeful recovery, thebitumen mixture must first be separated from the natural rock component.

The separation of the bitumen from these natural rock masses can be doneessentially via two technologies.

Recovery by open pit mining:

In this method, the rock mass containing bitumen is carried away usingoverburden dredgers or wheel loaders and transported to the processingplants with heavy road vehicles. The processing is done as a rule in thefollowing process steps:

1. Breaking up/comminuting the rock, as a rule while supplying watervapor or hot water

2. Sending the resultant suspension to the first extraction step, wheresediment and water form as the lower separation layer, and bitumen withfoam forms as the upper separation layer.

3. Carrying away the lower sediment and water layer to usuallyartificial lakes or water lagoons.

4. Carrying away the upper bitumen layer to the second extraction step,where residues of water and fine particles are separated out. Thebitumen is usually dissolved in an organic solvent (as a rule,“naphtha”, which is a product of the light-oil recovery process). Whatis obtained is so-called crude bitumen.

5. The crude bitumen is sent to ensuing bitumen processing(“upgrading”).

Recovery by the so-called “in-situ method”:

In this technology, the crude bitumen is already recovered in the soil,below the surface and without breaking up the rock masses. This isaccomplished as follows:

6. High-pressure water vapor is injected into deep bitumen-containingrock strata. As a result, a thermal liquefaction of the crude bitumen isachieved.

7. This liquefied crude bitumen is carried purposefully into undergroundcollection points and pumped from there to the surface, by means ofsuitable pumping technology.

8. The crude bitumen thus recovered then, as a rule, follows the samefurther procedure as in step 5 above.

Extraction of light oil and liquid fuels from crude bitumen:

The crude bitumen (possibly from both recovery methods) is combined inthe next processing plant (“upgrading”). There, the following processsteps are usually performed:

9. From the mixture comprising crude bitumen and naphtha, the volatilehydrocarbons are distilled off. At the end, what remains is an insolubleresidue, called pet coke. Depending on the material used, it can containup to 10% sulfur components.

10. The gaseous hydrocarbons from the distillation are separated byfractionated condensation into naphtha, kerosene, and gas oil; naphthais as a rule at least partially returned to the process

11. Depending on the quality required of the individual fractions,desulfurization can be done in the further step. This is usually done bymeans of hydrogenation and separating out of the elemental sulfur.

12. At the end of the process come the storage and shipping out of theliquid fractions.

However, the method described above for recovering light oil and fuelsfrom oil shale and/or oil sands has considerable disadvantages.

For instance, extracting the crude bitumen from the rock masses requiresconsiderable amounts of hot water and water vapor. Per volumetric unitof light oil, up to 6 volumetric units of water have to be used. Thepreparation of steam and hot water is usually done in boilers fired bynatural gas. The demand for natural gas is extremely high and leads toan extraordinarily unfavorable energy balance of the entire process.Moreover, as a result the specific CO₂ emissions per barrel of light oilobtained is fundamentally unacceptable ecologically and in view of theneed to use valuable resources sparingly.

Despite efforts to circulate the water at least partially, the highwater consumption of the method leads to a correspondingly highincidence of contaminated waste water. Because of the process, the wastewater contains not only the sediment but above all residualconcentrations of bitumen, polycyclic aromatics, also called PAH, andheavy metals. PAH is a mixture of aromatic organic substances of themost various molecular weights. In such PAH mixtures, toxic substancesare as a rule highly prevalent as well. In particular, benzo(a)pyrene,which is suspected to be carcinogenic, must be mentioned.

These contaminated waste waters are usually deposited in artificiallakes or artificial lagoons. There, they present an extremely high riskof contamination to nature and the environment. In part, this affectsthe largest artificially created bodies of water in the world.

The pet coke remaining behind in the distillation of the crude bitumen(step 9) contains sulfur in concentrations of up to 10%. This isfundamentally a valuable energy carrier. However, because of its highsulfur content, it cannot readily be used in combustion processes, suchas for generating water vapor or hot water. Ensuring environmentallysound thermal exploitation is therefore questionable and is possible, ifat all, only at disproportionate expense for flue gas desulfurization.

For the present invention, the object has therefore arisen of furnishinga method which does not have the disadvantages of the prior art butpermits environmentally appropriate and energy-efficient exploitation ofcarbon carriers contained in oil sands and/or oil shale without creatingsuch great quantities of contaminated residues. At the same time, amethod is to be furnished which handles fossil fuels (such as naturalgas) sparingly, and which on its own can generate sufficient energycarriers to supply the requisite energy demand for the exploitationprocess.

According to the invention, in that by direct gasification of carboncomponents, contained in oil sands and/or oil shales, in a verticalprocess chamber with a calcining zone and an oxidation zone, in whichzone the calcined carbon-rich components oxidize with oxygen-containinggas, and the gaseous reaction products are drawn off at the top of thevertical process chamber, and the vertical process chamber is embodiedin the form of a vertical shaft furnace, through which a bulk material,which itself is not oxidized, flows continuously from top to bottom, andthe oxygen-containing gas is introduced at least partially below theoxidation zone, this object is attained in that the bulk material,furnished at least partially by the natural inert rock component of theoil sands and/or oil shale, which is converted in the vertical processchamber by chemical reaction with the alkaline substances attemperatures of over 400° C. into solid sulfur compounds by addingalkaline substances under reductive conditions; these solid sulfurcompounds are partially carried away with the gaseous reaction products;and at temperatures above 300° C. they are removed from the gas phase byfine-material separation (18).

In order to be able to gasify the carbon components contained in the oilsands or oil shales especially efficiently, it is advantageous tocomminute the oil sands or oil shale, before their entry into thevertical process chamber, by means of mechanical energy to a particlesize of less than 300 mm. As a result, the reactions proceeding in thevertical process chamber can be made especially efficient, since in thiscase the reaction surface area of the oil sands or oil shales isincreased, yet at the same time sufficient gas permeability in the bulkmaterial is ensured.

A further preferred embodiment of the method of the invention is that asthe alkaline substances, metal oxides, metal carbonates, metalhydroxides or mixtures of two or three of these substances are used.These can be metered purposefully into the vertical process chamber orinto the gas phase above the calcining zone. A further possibility is toadmix metal oxides, metal carbonates, metal hydroxides or mixtures oftwo or three of these substances with the oil sands and/or oil shalebefore the entry into the vertical process chamber.

It has proved especially advantageous that the alkaline substances areused at least partially in fine-granular form, with a particle size ofless than 2 mm as solid material and/or as a suspension in water.

A variant in which the metal oxides, metal carbonates, and metalhydroxides used contain elements of the alkaline earth metals andespecially preferably contain calcium as a cation has proved especiallypreferable. Calcium here has the advantage the corresponding materialused, calcium oxide, calcium carbonate or calcium hydroxide, havesuitable physical and chemical material properties so as to attainvirtually optimal outcomes in the present method with regard to bindingthe gaseous sulfur compounds. Moreover, the resultant sulfur compoundsof the calcium are especially well suited for being separated off fromthe gas phase as a solid at a temperature of over 300° C.

Methods in the prior art until now often have considerably technicalproblems because of the formation of cleavage products that contain oilor tar. In the method of the invention, these problems are solved inthat in the vertical process chamber and/or in the gas phase of thedrawn-off gaseous reaction products in the presence of water vapor andcalcium oxide and/or calcium carbonate and/or calcium hydroxide, acalcium-catalyzed reformation is performed at temperatures of above 400°C. In the process, essential components of the resultant cleavageproducts containing oil and/or tar, which have a chain length of greaterthan C4, are converted into carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide andhydrogen.

The requisite water vapor can be metered purposefully into the verticalprocess chamber and/or into the gas phase above the calcining zone. Anembodiment in which the water vapor is furnished in situ from theresidual moisture of the oil sands and/or oil shale is alsoadvantageous. In that case, it may be possible to do without metering inwater entirely.

The method of the invention can in principle also be performed inparallel with methods of the prior art described above for separatingcrude bitumen from the rock component of the oil sands or oil shales. Inthat case, as the water, aqueous media from the oil sand exploitationprocess, for instance from the extraction of the crude bitumen, can alsoadvantageously be used for the calcium-catalyzed reformation.

To ensure an especially efficient form of the method of the invention,it is advantageous to remove as high a proportion as possible of thefine-granular alkaline substances and the solid sulfur compounds fromthe vertical process chamber via the gas phase. This is attained in thatthe flow speed of the gaseous reaction products drawn off at the top ofthe vertical process chamber, as a result of suitable process control,is furnished at at least 10 m/s and thus the removal of thefine-granular alkaline substances and the solid sulfur compounds fromthe vertical process chamber via the gas phase is in large part ensured.

For the success of the method of the invention, it is important thatsufficient alkaline substances for binding sulfur products are furnishedin the process. It has been demonstrated that the fine-granular alkalinesubstances must be used in a quantitative ratio of at least 1 g per Nm³of resultant gaseous reaction products, in order to attain goodoutcomes. As a result, a total dust concentration in the gas phase ofthe drawn-off gaseous reaction products of at least 1 g of solids perNm³ is ensured as well. This minimum dust concentration has provednecessary, to ensure a stable process for producing low-sulfur synthesisgas.

To separate the dust from the synthesis gas efficiently, it has providedadvantageous to perform the fine-material separation of thefine-granular alkaline substances and the solid sulfur compounds fromthe gas phase is effected via stationary filter surfaces, on theoncoming flow side of which a coating of the solid filtration materialforms as a deep filtration layer. As a result, a final intensive contactof the gaseous cleavage products with the fine-granular alkalinesubstances prior to the final fine-material separation is ensured, andthus a maximum amount of gaseous sulfur compounds is made to react withthe alkaline substances and removed from the system.

The bulk material moving bed required for the method is formed at leastin part by the rock component of the oils sands or oil shales used.Depending on the properties of the oil sands or oil shales, however, itcan be advantageous to supplement the bulk material moving bed byadditional metering in of coarse material, in order to increase theflowability of the bulk material and/or its gas permeability. Thisadvantageously happens in that the coarse material is admixed with theoil sands or oil shale before entering the vertical process chamber.

It has been found that the method can be operated especiallyadvantageously if as the coarse material, mineral substances and/orother inorganic substances or mixtures of substances having a particlesize in the range of 2 mm to 300 mm are used. Equally good outcomes areachieved if as the coarse material, wood and/or other biogenic materialshaving a particle size in the range of from 2 mm to 300 mm are used.

An important actuating variable for the operation of the method is themetered amount of the oxygen-containing gas and of the resultant totallambda. The process is performed under reductive overall conditions, anda total lambda of less than 0.5 is established through all the stages ofthe process chamber. Preferably, the method can also be operated with atotal lambda of 0.3 or less.

Depending on the bitumen content of the oil sands or oil shales used, itcan be appropriate to increase the calorific value by adding furthercarbon carriers. This can advantageously be done in that such carboncarriers are admixed with the oil sands or oil shale before entering thevertical process chamber.

In order to ensure the move uniform possible flow of the bulk materialthrough the vertical process chamber, the oxygen-containing gas can bedelivered to the vertical process chamber in the form of pressurepulses. The mechanical forces thus generated contribute to loosening upand/or reinforcing the flow of the bulk material. These pressure pulsescan for instance be tripped at regular intervals, so that bridges orclogs are prevented from forming in the bulk material at the veryoutset.

The method of the invention has the advantage that the crude bitumencontained in the oil sands/oil shales no longer needs to be isolatedfrom the rock material using complicated, environmentally burdensomeseparation methods; instead, in a single method step, it can beconverted especially efficiently and environmentally acceptably into ahigh-value synthesis gas, substantially comprising carbon monoxide,hydrogen, and low hydrocarbons. It is a particular advantage that thesynthesis gas thus obtained is very pure and low in sulfur and as aresult can be made available for many other processes. For instance, itis possible to convert the synthesis gas into the most varioushydrocarbons, or also liquid fuels, by employing Fischer-Tropschsynthesis. This embodiment is also highly advantageous because thesediment and waste water that otherwise occur in the separation of thecrude bitumen, or the pet coke that otherwise occurs, are because of themethod not created in the first place; instead, a complete conversion ofall the organic components of the oil sands/oil shale into synthesis gascan be accomplished.

FIG. 1 shows one exemplary embodiment of the method of the invention.This is intended to explain the method, but not to limit its scope.

The oil sands or oil shale (A) recovered by open pit mining arecomminuted via breaker systems (1) mechanically to a particle size ofless than 30 cm and delivered from the top, via a vertical chute, to acountercurrent gasifier (2), which is embodied as a vertical processchamber. The bulk material is formed entirely or in part by the rockcomponent from the oil sand/oil shale (A). Depending on the quality andthe physical nature of the oil sands or the oil shale, it may beadvantageous to mix in still more coarse material (3), with a particlesize of 2 mm to 300 mm, with the bulk material. This is especiallyappropriate whenever the flow behavior or the gas permeability of thebulk material needs to be improved.

Still other carbon carriers (4) can be mixed in with the bulk materialto increase the proportion of exploitable carbon in the bulk material.Besides wood and biogenic substances, many extremely various carboncarriers can also be used. For instance, even residues that occur in theexploitation heretofore of oil sands or oil shales. In particular, thiscan be bitumen-containing sediments or pet cokes.

The mixture of bulk material, coarse material and residues flows throughthe vertical process chamber (2) by gravity from top to bottom. Thecountercurrent gasifier has burner lances (5) in its middle region,which ensure a basic load firing in he vertical process chamber and thesteady development of a burning zone (6). These burner lances can beoperated with fossil fuels (7) and oxygen-containing gas (8).Alternatively to the fossil fuels, synthesis gas from the countercurrentgasifier (9) can also be employed.

At the lower end of the vertical process chamber, oxygen-containing gas(10 is introduced. This gas serves first to cool down the bulk materialin a cooling zone (11) before it leaves the vertical process chamber.The oxygen-containing gas is thus preheated as it continues to flowupward in the vertical process chamber. On the countercurrentgasification principle, the oxygen from the oxygen-containing gas reactswith the carbon-containing materials in the bulk material by oxidation,and the quantity of oxygen-containing gas is adjusted such that a totallambda of less than 0.5 is established in the vertical process chamber.As a result, first a burning zone (6) is formed, in which residues ofthe carbon-containing material react with oxygen to form CO₂. Fartherupward in the process chamber, the oxygen decreases further, so thatfinally, only low-temperature carbonization can occur, until stillfarther upward, all the oxygen is finally consumed, and a pyrolysis zone(12) forms under entirely reductive conditions.

Conversely, if one looks at the flow of the bulk material mixturecomprising oil sands/oil shales, bulk material and alkaline substancesfrom top to bottom, what happens first in the pyrolysis zone (12) isdrying of the typically moist materials used, until an intrinsictemperature of 100° C. is reached. After that, the intrinsic temperatureof the materials rises further, causing the gasification process tobegin, and at an intrinsic temperature of up to 500° C., the formationof methane, hydrogen and CO begins. After extensive degassing, theintrinsic temperature of the materials increases further because of thehot gases rising from the burning zone (6), so that finally, thecarbon-containing materials are entirely degassed and now comprisenothing but residual coke, so-called pyrolysis coke, and ash components.The pyrolysis coke is transported with the bulk material fartherdownward in the vertical process chamber, where it is converted partlyinto CO at temperatures above 800° C. with the CO₂ components from theburning zone by Boudouard conversion and likewise gasified. Some of thepyrolysis coke also reacts in this zone by the water-gas reaction withwater vapor, which is likewise present in the hot gases, forming CO andhydrogen. Finally, at temperatures below 1800° C., residues of thepyrolysis coke are practically completely combusted and thermallyutilized in the burning zone (6) along with the oxygen-containing gasflowing in from below. As a result, it is possible for thecountercurrent gasifier to be supplied with virtually all the energyneeded for the gasification. This is also known as an autothermalgasification process.

Water (13), as an additional cooling and gasification medium, can alsobe metered into the cooling zone via water lances (14).

The synthesis gas formed in the vertical process chamber is extracted atthe upper end by suction (15), so that in the upper gas chamber (16), aslight underpressure of from 0 to 200 mbar is established.

Depending on the quality of the substances used, considerably amounts ofgaseous sulfur compounds can occur during the gasification process. Itis therefore advantageous if alkaline substances (16) are admixed withthe oil sands/oil shales and the bulk material before they enter thevertical process chamber. For this purpose, metal oxides, metalhydroxides, or metal carbonates are especially suitable, and the use offine-granular calcium oxide is especially preferred, since because ofits reactivity and large surface area it reacts spontaneously with thegaseous sulfur compounds formed and thereby forms solid sulfurcompounds, which are quite predominantly removed from the verticalprocess chamber together with the synthesis gas that is extracted bysuction. Still other contaminants, such as chlorine, hydrogen chloride,or even heavy metals, can be bound highly effectively to the CaO andremoved from the process in the same way.

Additionally, it can be appropriate to use coarse-granular metal oxides,metal hydroxides or metal carbonates as bulk material (3), in order onthe one hand to increase the proportion of bulk material to thecarbon-containing materials and on the other also to make alkalinereaction partners available in the lower part of the vertical processchamber for binding the gaseous sulfur compounds.

The synthesis gas extracted by suction contains dust, which essentiallycomprises the solid sulfur compounds, fine-granular alkaline substances,other contaminants, and inert particles. This synthesis gas containingdust can be treated in the gas chamber (16) of the vertical processchamber, or after leaving the vertical process chamber at (15), in thepresence of water vapor and fine-granular calcium oxide at temperaturesof over 400° C. This temperature can be established by suitableadjustment of the quantity of oxygen-containing gas (10) at the lowerend of the vertical process chamber or by means of the calorific outputof the burner lances (14) in the burning zone. However, it is especiallyadvantageous to use direct fining in the synthesis gas via burner lances(17), which are operated stoichiometrically with fuel andoxygen-containing gas or even with an excess of oxygen-containing gas.This thermal posttreatment in the presence of water vapor and calciumoxide ensures that the oils and tars still present in the synthesis gaswill be split off by the catalytic action of the calcium oxide.

The dust-containing synthesis gas is then freed of dust at temperaturesabove 300° C. by way of hot-gas filtration (18). The filter dust (19)containing sulfur is spun out of the process and either disposed of orput to an alternative use. In a preferred embodiment of the method, itis also possible to mix the filter dust, at east partially again asfine-granular alkaline substances, with the bulk material at (16) andthereby to operate in a partly circulatory mode.

The resultant synthesis gas (9) is practically sulfur-fee and can beused as fuel in the boiler systems (3).

Depending on conditions on site or on the requirements of the boilersystems, it may be necessary to cool down the synthesis gas using gascoolers (20) and to free it of condensates, before its exploitation canbe done. The condensate (21) that occurs can be used again at leastpartially as a cooling and gasification medium via the water lances (14)in the vertical process chamber.

The bulk material mixture (22) emerging at the lower end of the verticalreaction chamber essentially contains coarse-granular bulk material,residues of ash, and fine-granular bulk material. The fine-granular bulkmaterial can still contain small amounts of sulfur products and othercontaminants.

The entire bulk material stream can be stored (23) in its entirety.However, it is especially preferable to screen the bulk material mixture(24); the coarse fraction (25) can preferably be put at least partiallyinto circulation and used again as bulk material in the vertical processchamber at (3).

The fine screened fraction (26), together with the filter dust (19) thatcontains sulfur, is spun out of the process and disposed of or put to analternative use. Here again, it is possible in a preferred embodiment ofthe method to mix the fine screened fraction at least partly again asfine-granular alkaline substances with the bulk material at (16) andthereby operate with at least partial circulation of the fine screenedfraction.

1. A method for continuous production of synthesis gas by directgasification of carbon components, contained in oil sands and/or oilshales, in a vertical process chamber with a calcining zone and anoxidation zone, in which zone the calcined carbon-rich componentsoxidize with oxygen-containing gas, and the gaseous reaction productsare drawn off at the top of the vertical process chamber, and thevertical process chamber is embodied in the form of a vertical shaftfurnace, through which a bulk material, which itself is not oxidized,flows continuously from top to bottom, and the oxygen-containing gas isintroduced at least partially below the oxidation zone, characterized inthat the bulk material, furnished at least partially by the naturalinert rock component of the oil sands and/or oil shale, which isconverted in the vertical process chamber by chemical reaction with thealkaline substances at temperatures of over 400° C. into solid sulfurcompounds by adding alkaline substances under reductive conditions;these solid sulfur compounds are partially carried away with the gaseousreaction products; and at temperatures above 300° C. they are removedfrom the gas phase by fine-material separation.
 2. The method of claim1, characterized in that the oil sands and/or oil shale, before enteringthe vertical process chamber, is comminuted by means of mechanicalenergy to a particle size of less than 300 mm.
 3. The method of claim 1,characterized in that as the alkaline substances, metal oxides, metalcarbonates, metal hydroxides or mixtures of two or three of thesesubstances are used and are metered purposefully into the verticalprocess chamber and/or into the gas phase above the calcining zoneand/or are admixed with the oil sands and/or oil shale before enteringthe vertical process chamber.
 4. The method of claim 3, characterized inthat the metal oxides, metal carbonates, and metal hydroxides containelements of the alkaline earth metals and especially preferably containcalcium as a cation.
 5. The method of claim 1, characterized in that inthe vertical process chamber and/or in the gas phase of the drawn-offgaseous reaction products in the presence of water vapor and calciumoxide and/or calcium carbonate and/or calcium hydroxide, acalcium-catalyzed reformation of essential components of the resultantcleavage products containing oil and/or tar, which have a chain lengthof greater than C4, into carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen isperformed at temperatures of above 400° C.
 6. The method of claim 1,characterized in that the water vapor is metered purposefully into thevertical process chamber and/or into the gas phase above the calciningzone, and/or is furnished in situ from the residual moisture of the oilsands and/or oil shale.
 7. The method of claim 1, characterized in thatthe alkaline substances are used at least partially in fine-granularform, with a particle size of less than 2 mm as solid material and/or asa suspension in water.
 8. The method of claim 1, characterized in thatas the water, aqueous media from the oil sand exploitation process, forinstance from the extraction of the crude bitumen, are used.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, characterized in that the flow speed of the gaseousreaction products drawn off at the top of the vertical process chamberamounts, as a result of suitable process control, to at least 10 m/s andthus the removal of the fine-granular alkaline substances and the solidsulfur compounds from the vertical process chamber via the gas phase isat least partially ensured.
 10. The method of claim 1, characterized inthat the fine-granular alkaline substances are used in a quantitativeratio of at least 1 g per Nm³ of resultant gaseous reaction products, asa result of which a total dust concentration in the gas phase of thedrawn-off gaseous reaction products of at least 1 g of solids per Nm³ isensured.
 11. The method of claim 1, characterized in that thefine-material separation of the fine-granular alkaline substances andthe solid sulfur compounds from the gas phase is effected via stationaryfilter surfaces, on the oncoming flow side of which a coating of thesolid filtration material forms as a deep filtration layer, as a resultof which a final intensive contact of the gaseous cleavage products withthe fine-granular alkaline substances prior to the final fine-materialseparation is ensured, in order to cause a maximum amount of gaseoussulfur compounds to react with the alkaline substances.
 12. The methodof claim 1, characterized in that the bulk material moving bed is formedpartly by additional metering in of coarse material, to increase theflowability of the bulk material and/or its gas permeability, and thecoarse material is admixed with the oil sands and/or oil shale beforeentering the vertical process chamber.
 13. The method of claim 12,characterized in that as the coarse material, mineral substances and/orother inorganic substances or mixtures of substances having a particlesize in the range of 2 mm to 300 mm are used.
 14. The method of claim12, characterized in that as the coarse material, wood and/or otherbiogenic materials having a particle size in the range of from 2 mm to300 mm are used.
 15. The method of claim 1, characterized in that thereductive overall conditions proceed at a total lambda of less than 0.5through all the stages of the process chamber, and preferably 0.3 orless.
 16. The method of claim 1, characterized in that additional carboncarriers are admixed with the oil sands and/or oil shale before enteringthe vertical process chamber, in order to increase the concentration ofexploitable carbon-containing components in the bulk material movingbed.
 17. The method of claim 1, characterized in that theoxygen-containing gas is delivered to the vertical process chamber inthe form of pressure pulses, in order by these mechanical forces tocontribute to loosening up and/or reinforcing the flow of the bulkmaterial.
 18. The method of claim 1, characterized in that the synthesisgas produced is used at least partially as raw material forFischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing hydrocarbons, such as fuels.